Less than a year after Waymo started offering driverless taxi rides to a limited group of passengers in Los Angeles, the company has expanded its robotaxi service to the city at large. All you really need to book your futuristic ride is the Waymo One smartphone app. “Now is an exciting time to welcome everyone in Los Angeles along for the ride,” said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, in an official statement. “Our service has matured quickly and our riders are embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving. We’re so grateful to all of our first riders in L.A., and we can’t wait to serve more riders soon.” At the moment, Waymo vehicles are able to traverse nearly 80 square miles of L.A. County, between Santa Monica and DTLA—only on surface streets, not on freeways—but expect that geographical span to extend even farther in the near future.   Courtesy Waymo   How do Waymo's robotaxis work? Just about a year ago, we were able to board a Waymo car, when the company launched its Waymo One Tour program in Santa Monica and Venice—and we’ve been (mostly) impressed ever since. Photograph: Courtesy Waymo “Riding in a self-driving car for the first time is anxiety-inducing, exciting and oddly normal—basically in that order," wrote our Los Angeles and Western USA editor Michael Juliano at the time, when he rode the vehicle for a two-mile drive from the southern edge of the Venice service area to Santa Monica and back again. “Even if you routinely drive a car outfitted with advanced assistance features, it can’t prepare you for the radically different sensation of sitting in the back seat of a car with nobody in the driver’s seat. Even the outside of the white Jaguar I-PACE feels strange; it’s impossible to miss the spinning lidar unit on the roof as well as the array of cameras and radar sensors (which collectively let it see 360-degrees for roughly the length of three football fields).” To summon your robotaxi, simply download the Waymo One app and follow the prompts. Remember that each car can fit up to four passengers at once. How much does a Waymo ride cost? The price of a Waymo ride is based on the distance and time of the trip, which is how more “traditional” ride-sharing companies (think Uber and Lyft) operate as well.  Since prices fluctuate all the time, it’s hard to compare the costs of these various apps, but Juliano did mention that, at the time that he made use of the service, the pricing was “pretty much in line with the base fares for Uber and Lyft”—though of course you don’t need to tip your robot driver.  Word is still out on whether this will solidify itself as one of the cheapest ways to get around L.A. or not. Either way, we’re excited to enter the future of transportation.